Heat treating and drawing fixture



Oct. 7, 1941. v F ZAHODlAKlN 2,258,039

HEAT TREATING AND DRAWING FIXTURE Filed July 25, 193s;l

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INVENT OR.

4ATTORNEY Patented Oct. 7, 1941 a' UNITED sTATEs PATENT OFFICE 2.2584139 v HEAT TREATING AND DRAWING FIXTURE Victor F. Zahodiakin, New York, N. Y. Application July 25, 1938, Serial No. 221,160

1 Claim.

This invention relates to the art of heat treating and drawing metal and is particularly directed to a xture for supporting and holding a series of articles such as piston rings, during the process of heat treating and drawing.

In the operation of heat treating, quenching, and drawing a multiplicity of small articles, it is extremely diiiicult to so dispose the articles that they will not warp or assume shapes other than those intended in the finished form. Furthermore, it is extremely difficult to hold the articles in a group for the treatment in such manner that certain of the surfaces of the metal parts being treated are fully exposed for the treatment. Particularly does this difliculty arise in connection with the treatment of rings, such as piston rings, for it is highly desirable -that the internal and external surfaces receive the treatment. Additionally, it is diiiicult to assemble small articles in a fixture quickly and this naturally tends to lower the speed of production.

Accordingly, it has been a broad objective of the present inventor to provide a fixture for holding a plurality of parts to be treated, such as piston rings, in such a manner that the above difiiculties are overcome.

More specifically, it has been an objective of the present inventor to provide a fixture which is extremely simple to manipulate, and which includes means aiding in the assembly of the parts in the fixture and which, after the parts have been assembled, is capable of holding the parts in rigidly clamped position by means of rela--` tively few operating parts. In other words, the fixture is so constituted that those parts aiding in the assembly of the rings can be quickly for treatment of the parts as a unit.

Figure 4 is a top plan view of Figure 3.

Referring to the drawing, an assemblyy table is indicated at 5. This table includes a cylindrical opening 6 constituted by a sleeve 1 depending integrally from the table. A washer` 8 lies in a countersunk portion 9 of the recess. A centering tool I0 is provided and has a portion slidably engageable in the cylindrical opening 6, and

" spread outwardly so that their shed from the clamping fixture before the batch i of rings is subjected to heat treatment.v

More specifically, it has been a further .objective of the present inventor to provide a heat treatment fixture of this nature in which the articles to be subjected to the heat treatment are under constant pressure, with the clamping element so arranged that there is comparatively little obstruction to the surfaces of the parts, particularly the external and internal surfaces in' the case of piston rings.

One embodiment in which the invention may take form is that of a device which includes assembly parts for stacking the rings and axially aligning the same, and which includes another set of parts which serves to clamp the rings in nat position under pressure, and by means of which the stacked and rigidly held parts may be heat treated as a unit.

ially aligning the rings by surfaces thereof.

The rings I2 which are to be treated are stacked around the extension II and lie upon the washer 8. A sleeve I3 is then engaged externally over the stackedkrings and includes a support flange I4, engaging the top of the table around the cylindrical opening. Thus, the-rings are assembled between two elements and this is vuseful in connection with piston rings which are usually split and may therefore tend to external cylindrical surfaces will not be in alignment.

A washer I5 is engaged upon the top of the stack of rings and is heid down against the rings clamping fingers Iii-I6. These clamping fingers are pivotally mounted on clamping screws I l disposed in the top of standards I8 rising from the table. Wing nuts I9 on the screws clamp the fingers between the bifurcated arms 20 of the standards. When the fingers are not in use, they assume the position shown in dot and dash lines in Figure 1. As shown in full lines they are in use, and the wing nuts have been tightened to hold the fingers down against the washer I5.

' With the rings thus held in firmly clamped, stacked position, the cylindrical tool I I is withdrawn from the bottom of the opening in the table and the normal clamping parts for holding the stack of rings are broughtinto play.

A'washer 2l is engaged through the opening 3 against the bottom of the washer 3. A draw bolt 22 has a head 23 engaging the bottom of the washer 2| and projects axially upwardly to the top of the stack. -A retainer element 24, havlng a circular lower edge engaging the top of the ring or washer I5, is held thereagainst by means of a coil spring 25 under compression about the draw rod between the top of the retainer and a wing nut 23 screwed on the upper end of the rod. The wing nut is screwed down until the spring receives `a predetermined pressure. Thereupon, the wing nuts I9 are loosened and the clamping iingers I3 are moved upwardly. The external sleeve I3 is held down and the stacked rings held between the rings or washers 3 and I5 are lifted bodily, or as a unit, from the assembly parts. Thus, a multiplicity of the rings are tightly gripped in the xture under pressure and are ready for heat treatment in a salt bath such as cyanide potassium, or the like.

When the xture is deposited in the salt bath it is lowered so that thelevel oi the solution is slightly over the washer I5, thereby leaving the spring above the treatment. Accordingly, its temper will not be destroyed and it will always hold the rings under pressure during the treatment. This same operation is utilized when the fixture is submerged, for drawing the parts, in an oil bath.

In Figure 3, another form of the invention is disclosed. In this Aform the rings are stacked about a cylinder orl sleeve. 30. The sleeve l3l) includes a flange 3I providing a shoulder at its base. A washer or ring 32 rests upon the flange 3l ,and a multiplicityl of rings are stacked upon the ring 32 about the sleeve. or ring 33 is mounted upon the top of the uppermost ring and is held thereagainst by means of a retainer 34 of inverted cup shape. The lower peripheral edge of the element 34 is Another washer engaged with the top oi the ring 33. A clamping screw or draw bolt 35 is connected to the upper wall 36 oi.' the cylindrical sleeve 30. includes a head 31 engaging the inside of the wall 33 and projects through an opening in the retainer 34. A wing nut 33 is screwed thereon, compressing a spring 33 against the top of the retainer. Thus, the sleeve 30 is drawn upwardly and the retainer 34 is forced downwardly. This results in a spring pressed clamping action on the stack oi rings. The sleeve 30 is perforated, as at 40, to provide a multiplicity of openings through which the liquid may ilow during the heating and drawing operations.

This device is immersed in the same manner as that shown in Figure 1. II desirable, the springs may be replaced with metallic weights.

Having described my invention, I claim:

A fixture for homing a multipucity of rings' in aligned, stacked, and clamped position for heat treatment, comprising a perforated cylindrical sleeve adapted to support and align the rings internally, said sleeve being open at one end and having an attaching portion across its other end, jaw means extending exteriorly around the open end of the sleeve for engaging )ne end of the stack of rings, jaw means at the other end of the sleeve, comprisingv a disc and a iiange around said disc telescoping said sleeve and adapted, to engage the other end of the stack of rings, a bolt extending through said attaching portion and said disc with the threaded portion thereof extending outwardly, a nut on said threaded portion, and a spring between the nut and the disc for placing said rings under constant compression for allowing expansion and contraction vduring heat treatment.

VICTOR F. ZAHODIAEN.

The bolt v 

